Morton Grove is covering an 8.1% increase in its 2024 budget with tax and fee hikes estimated to cost the average village homeowner about $146 more a year, according to village officials.
No residents objected or spoke during public hearings for the $84.5 million budget, up from $78.14 million last year, and for a 9% increase in the property tax levy, estimated to cost about $115 annually for the owner of a $400,000 home, according to village officials. Hikes in other fees, such as water, sewer and garbage, bring the total increased dollar amount for the average homeowner up to $146.
Trustees approved both measures unanimously.
Village officials blamed the unusually large budget hike on economic conditions and uncontrollable costs such as employee pensions and health insurance.
“We’re considering this to be a reactionary, managed budget,” Village Administrator Ralph Czerwinski said. “We’re reacting to the fact that we have pension and insurance increases and inflationary pressures while still controlling, to the best of our ability, maintaining the services the village enjoys.”
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Village President Dan DiMaria said Morton Grove is facing tough times due to inflation.
“We will get through it,” DiMaria said during a budget hearing.
Czerwinski said the village attempted to balance the tax burdens between residents and those who pass through town by increasing local taxes and fees and Morton Grove’s gas, food and beverage taxes.
“To balance against the property tax and taxes paid by individuals that use services but don’t pay local taxes, we think this is a balanced approach,” he said. “We diversified between use and property taxes. It seems to be a more appropriate and balanced way to do it.”
Much of the approximately $84.5 million budget includes tax increment financing expenses that are not covered by property taxes, Czerwinski said.
The general fund budget, which was increased 8% from $35.1 million this year to $37.9 million for 2024, will be funded by property taxes and increases of 3% in water rates and 5% in garbage collection and by raising the gas tax from 1 to 2 cents per gallon and the food and beverage tax from 4 to 5%, he said.
“It was difficult,” Czerwinski said of decisions to raise taxes. “The process started in August with department submittals that were very appropriate by departmental directors, knowing the high impact of the costs of healthcare and pensions.”
In the 2024 budget, pension costs increased by $654,000, health insurance costs by $400,000, operational costs by $950,000, technology costs by $150,000, and street improvements and building maintenance by $200,000, he said.
“We have to have a plan to fund pensions appropriately,” Czerwinski said. “This is what we’re doing through actuarials. The market did not perform as expected. It makes our contribution demands higher. The market was flat but we still have requirements to have our pensions funded.”
The increase in operation costs was “due to inflationary pressures for materials and operating costs to purchase materials we need, from fuel to sand to gravel to concrete,” he said.
The technology increases are intended to make Morton Grove more efficient and to keep pace with information technology, including storing more village records in the cloud, Czerwinski said.
“Our inspectors in the field can gather information on iPads or tablets and then provide inspection information to the business owner or contractor and not have to come back (to village facilities) and double enter that,” he said.
Storing information in the cloud also allows inspectors to access codes, drawings and other information from the field “to keep them more productive and not have to input or retrieve information after returning to the office,” Czerwinski said.
“It also gives access to all departments in economic development,” he said. “Between community development, building and finance, we will have one dashboard type of access. This is the wave of the future for this type of software and product, and is money well spent.”